International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has said “timing is right” for women’s boxing to be part of the Olympics.

Rogge made the comment while in Ireland on a week long visit where he unveiled a statue in commemoration of former IOC chief Lord Killanin.

The Irish Times quoted him as saying, “There is a proposal of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on the table, but not yet finalised.”

“They made their first application in 2005. We examined the situation, but at that time they did not have enough universality, and they did not have enough countries. And also, from a medical point of view, there was a big discrepancy, in the same weight category, between the skills and the level of the women. You would have very sophisticated boxers against very junior boxers, in the same weight category, which in boxing is dangerous,” Rogge said.

“So we said they’d have to wait a few years. Now we are four years later. We’ve studied it again with the medical commission of the IOC, and they have said no problem, from a medical point of view. And we are satisfied that there is a far better universality."

The AIBA proposal is for four women’s events and a reshuffling of weight classes for men with a reduction from 11 to nine categories.

Because this change would mean the addition of a new discipline, not a new sport, the IOC Executive Board, not the Congress, will vote on the proposal. The EB is expected to vote on the addition in December.

The Irish Times was excited by the prospect of their two-time world boxing champion Katie Taylor being able to go for gold at the London Games in 2012.

Australia was represented by five athletes at the 2008 Women's Amateur World Championships and has two boxers ranked in the top five in the world.

AOC with Around the Rings